In April, one new licensed producer each in both Ontario and Manitoba received their cultivation licenses, and two others received their sales licenses. Manitoba’s Bonify Medical Cannabis received their cultivation license and Ontario’s MedReleaf received a cultivation license for their second facility in mid-April. Ontario’s Green Relief and WeedMD both received their sales licenses, and Manitoba’s Delta 9 began selling clones.

Health Canada issues a cultivation license prior to issuing a sales license. Upon receiving their cultivation license (formerly called a production license), a licensed producer must then grow out, harvest, dry, process and pass testing for their cannabis before receiving a sales license. This process can take from about six months to well over a year, and allows the producer to build up a supply before going to market, as well as allowing the regulator to better ensure each new producer is able to adhere to the regulatory standards.

Currently, there are 43 cultivation licenses issued, and 29 sales licenses. Nineteen of these producers also have a sales license for cannabis oil, and another three with a cannabis oil production licenses that still awaiting a sales license. No producer has ever had a cultivation or sales license revoked or suspended.

On average, inspectors normally visit a licensed producer approximately once a month in a scheduled visit as well as random inspections. An inspection can last from several hours to, in some cases and depending on location, several days.